Calm before a storm
by Scream to the Stars
Summary: She's watching Stark sleep...thinking about how she's going to beat Kalona. Written at 2 am...but inspiration comes when inspiration comes. Deal with it and read it! Lovez.


**Alright, my usual rant at the beginning:  
Has anyone actually seen the yearbook photos at _Houseofnightseries[dot]com_ ? They all look like whores, sluts, creepers, and stalkers. Not to mention some of them look as slow as I am…And I'm pretty slow…Okay maybe not that slow but I'm unique…**

Disclaimer: I don't own this…And if I did Zoey would have seen Erik for the douche bag he is from the start! Yes I enjoy bagging on Erik. Get over it.  


* * *

I watched him, calmly, patiently. Yes, I was watching Stark sleep. Mostly because…well, he's hot when he's shirtless…and sprawled all over my bed…his hair kind of a mess on the pillow and his scarlet mark displayed for the world to see. It wasn't that much before the dark was upon us, probably another half an hour or so, until Stark's internal alarm clock woke him up, much to my dismay.

He'll always look at me; paste that cocky grin on his face…that kind of makes me lose a little feeling in my knees. You know, that way an eleven year old girl feels when she gets her first crush and he talked to her for the first time. Yes, I am still that little girl at heart, although I have been through so much already it's hard to deal with it all. And yet, back to the funny feeling because I just enjoy talking about that.

The way he'll sit up, look at me like I'm the only person on the planet to him. Which is totally irrational because I am not even human, and he, the walking dead. Well, used to be walking dead. You know, I am still kind of fuzzy on that whole concept…are the Red Vampyres alive or dead? They were fledglings…then they died…came back to life…you know what? Not going to worry. All I want to do right now is watch my overly handsome Warrior sleep the rest of the day away.

And yet, now that my mind is on the stress, it isn't going to get off the stress. How was I supposed to beat Kalona? With those really creepy visions Aphrodite had of me and him…doing the nasty while our kind burned. Humans and Vampyres alike were burning, but it was still so wrong, doing THAT with Kalona.

How was I going to beat him? When my body reacted to just his presence just because he claims that I am some Indian girl, A-ya, his lost lover, reincarnated? Just how was I going to deal with that, because I know that guy feels some lust for me, since he insistently shows up in my dreams when my Warrior isn't around? Of course my Warrior can feel my every emotion, kind of like an imprint, so he'll know if I wake up from one of those Kalona dreams/nightmares.

My mind was plagued with all of these thoughts. Kalona, black winged and handsome, offering his hand so that I could rule at his side and be with him forever. Part of me wanted to. Part of me wanted to surrender to him, let him take me, and let myself be his forever…

No! That's A-ya speaking, and I don't want her to think for me in the whole Kalona business. I don't want to think of long ago memories from another lifetime that I've no desire to remember. It does influence me, a little, but I don't want it to really influence me into taking Kalona's hand and forever doing the nasty with him.

One part of me saw him as a sweet dream.

The other part of me saw him as a beautiful nightmare.

I grimaced as I watched Stark stir, and I had a nagging sensation that it was because of me, because of what I was thinking, otherwise he would have slept longer. He needed to sleep, in order to protect me, but sometimes he didn't sleep, and he looked worse and worse every day. That's why I forced him to sleep while I watched over him, like how he watched over me when I was sleeping. Well, you know, usually, when I'm sleeping. I just hoped that he felt safe while he slept.

His eye opened and he stared up at me, as if he was watching me with something close to disbelief. Rubbing tiredly at his eyes, he sat up and laid a hand across mine, sending a couple butterflies to flutter around in my stomach.

"You were thinking about him…" A statement without question, an unusual knack that he'd picked up over the last few days.

"I was, Stark. I was thinking about how hard it is going to be to beat him. Especially since A-ya is inside of me and yearning to go back to him. I'm thinking about how I'm going to possibly try and beat Neferet, the powerful witch that I don't even have the heart to think about. I'm thinking about how nearly impossible that it is going to be, and the fact that I'm possibly going to die in the process. It all seems so hard and I am seriously starting to doubt myself here," at this point I had started hyperventilating and Stark had pulled me into a hug to possibly try and calm me down. He stroked my hair, and, eventually, I calmed my breathing enough to actually listen to the next thing he said.

"Well, first of all, Zoey, I am here, and therefore, you will never get hurt, no one will ever harm you. If they do, I will kill them with my arrow, my true aim. Your friends, the elements, they will all protect you. Heath, no matter how annoying and vile to me as he is, will attempt to protect you too, and end up being beaten into the ground because he is such a fool. This mission is nearly impossible, yes, and it's probably not going to end well, but we have to try, don't we? Don't doubt yourself, because you're going to let everyone down if you do that."

"I will Stark?" He had become quite animated during his speech and was breathing a little harder than before. His speech had given me courage though, courage that I desperately needed, and desperately wanted to grab onto and keep in my heart. I vowed to myself then, sitting in Stark's lap, having this overall meaningful conversation, that I would never let anyone down, that I would never let anyone think I'm weak. After all, the elements were on my side, and not Neferet's.

"Yes, you will. And I know that it is a lot of stress, but that's what Damien, Shaunee, Stevie Rae, Erin, and I are here for, to help you with things that you can't take on alone. Of course your final confrontation with Kalona will be on your own, we'll all be there with you in spirit Zoey. You mean too much to all of us to let you do all of this alone. What kind of friends would we be if we let you do that? I know that the Drag Queen certainly wouldn't. Stevie Rae isn't that kind of friend…and neither are Erin or Shaunee."

I smiled gently as I felt his lips descend on mine. Right there in his lap, listening to his awesome speech, I felt perfectly fine here. That is, until, we have to go and attack Kalona. Or confront him.

"Okay, I know for a fact that you're feeling better, now, what's with the whole long face and nagging emotion in the back of your mind? I don't like it." Well of course stark wouldn't like it. Stark didn't like any negative emotions when it came to me, just because he was over=sensitive, over-caring, and over-protective of me. Be afraid.

"I just…don't think that you guys should go with me…" Pure outrage filled his eyes for an instant, and then was gone, as if reminding himself that there was no way in hell that he wanted to get angry with me. Secretly glad with this fact, I kind of boldly carried on. "What if one of you got hurt or died on this mission? I would feel responsible because I am a High Priestess in training. I don't know if I can protect you, really." Okay, so my voice was barely above a whisper, but I had to communicate somehow, you know?

"Hey, we can protect ourselves, to some extent. Most of us are fledglings, but we have very powerful connections with our elements. Okay, well, me, I can just shoot things. But, I always hit my mark, and so I can protect myself and you at the same time. In my world, you always come first."

"Bu—"

"No buts, we can take care of ourselves, and you know it. You just want to procrastinate on this trip." I wanted to deny it; oh I wanted to deny it so badly. Yet, somewhere deep inside, I knew he was right, and had absolutely no sense in denying it. I knew he felt my surrender, because he tightened his arms around me in a comforting, affectionate gesture.

I stared up at Stark in a long moment, watching, waiting to see what he was going to do next. Sighing, he took my hand and pressed it against my chest. I had no idea what he was doing, but then he looked at me again, and I held his eyes, wondering what he would instruct me to do next.

"Tell me, Zoey, what do you feel beneath your fingertips?"

"I feel my heartbeat…"

"Yes, your heartbeat, the drum of all life, the fruit of which we depend upon. It is the warmest center in the body, and we need our heart to survive. Without it, there is no life, no spark of life. Just don't let their lights go out, especially yours, okay? And don't worry about me," gently, he pressed my fingers against his own chest and grinned at me when I didn't feel a heartbeat. "I'm just a freak of nature. What can they do to me now that I'm already dead? Except toss me out into the son, of course."

"So, if I don't let their fires blow out…I'll be strong?"

"You're always strong, in my eyes." As he leaned in to kiss me, Shaunee, Erin, and Aphrodite came barging into my room. I couldn't help but glare at them for my lost moment with my [gallant] Warrior. I met his lips anyway and they respectively turned their backs to give us some privacy until we were done. I made sure to make that kiss last for a while. I even thought of turning it into a full make-out session, but that was too much punishment I wasn't willing to give.

"Alright, now that we're done with our little love-fest, what the hell is going on? I don't enjoy being out of the loop!" Aphrodite wasn't in a great mood, ever since she was joined to Stevie Rae in an imprint, and so was in an equally sour mood right now. In her eyes she was giving us a piece of her mind. In our eyes, she was just being plain bitchy, moaning, and complaining.

"Stark and I were just talking about how scared I am of how impossible all of this seems!!!" I didn't get much sleep last night, and I was definitely not in the mood to hear Aphrodite whine. She stood there, gaping like a fish, with the twins holding in some silent giggles at my outburst.

"Come on guys, this is serious," Stark cut in. Erin and Shaunee automatically became sober and smiled apologetically, losing the smile just as quickly as it came. I scooted myself off of Stark so that he could put a shirt over his rocking body and stared at everyone.

"Um…guys? Why don't we find Damien first, he'll probably want to hear all this. Or he'll be the Drag Queen he is and complain that he was left out…" The others agreed and filed out of my room. "Stark and I will catch up in a minute!" I wasn't sure if they heard me at first, but someone yelled back that it was alright.

"Good job at stalling."

"Um…thanks," I strode up to Stark and wrapped my arms rather tightly around his neck. I felt him wind his own arms around me and drag me close, so close I could hardly breathe. I didn't pull back though, I couldn't bring myself to.

"It'll be alright," he whispered gently, soothingly to me, stroking my back and my hair, trying to make sure that I believed it. No tears graced my features; I just disentangled my head and stared straight into his eyes. They seemed to hide some secret, a shadow of a doubt. I wasn't as tall as him, I had to raise myself on my toes, but I succeeded in meeting his lips once more in a deep kiss that spread warmth throughout my body.

I pulled back, barely a breadth away from him and whispered back, "I just wish this nightmare were over and it was alright," for one more moment, as he descended on me this time, I felt calm, a sense of calm that nothing was wrong and that everything would go right.

It was a calm before the viscous storm that I had no desire to happen.

* * *

**So yes, it is another one-shot. You're all going to kill me…I just know you will. Just don't, okay? Apparently I mean more to people than I think and I don't want my sexy shirtless best friend to kill you if you kill me! [I'm serious; he will kill you if any threat comes within 2 feet of me]**

**_BEWARE!_**

**Okay, review my lovely reader-friends!**

**_P.S._** - _Erik Night is still a douche bag. A hot douche bag, but a douche bag nonetheless._


End file.
